Saturday, April 30, 2011

Homework Regulators Aren’t Doing - (www.nytimes.com) “ONE too many times, this court has been witness to the shoddy practices and sloppy accountings of the mortgage service industry. With each revelation, one hopes that the bottom of the barrel has been reached and that the industry will self-correct. Sadly, this does not appear to be reality.” This trenchant take comes courtesy of Elizabeth W. Magner, a bankruptcy court judge in the Eastern District of Louisiana. In an April 7 opinion involving a couple whose bank tried to foreclose on them even though they were current on their mortgage, you can sense Ms. Magner’s frustration with financial institutions that administer home loan payments and records. Ms. Magner is just one of many judges overseeing cases involving troubled borrowers, of course. But because her judicial duties seem to have made her an expert on mortgage servicing, Ms. Magner’s views could not be more timely and important. This is especially true, given that state attorneys general seem intent on striking a settlement with servicers before they have conducted a comprehensive and thorough examination of industry practices. By presiding over a variety of cases involving borrower abuse, Ms. Magner has probably done more investigating than some of the attorneys general who are so eager to cut a deal with the banks.

The True Finns Stun The World With Gigantic Success In The Finnish Election - (www.businessinsider.com) Official results aren't settled, but the early vote suggests a massive victory for the True Finns in the Finnish election. It's not clear yet whether they will be the single largest party. You can follow the results here. At the moment, while they have the most share of the vote, the National Coalition Party has the most seats. The True Finns -- as their name suggests -- are the Finnish nationalist party lead by Timo Soini. They are anti-bailouts and anti-immigration. For a really good overview of what the True Finns believe, and what they mean to Europe, see this profile in the Telegraph. This quote from one candidate -- a professor running in this election -- encapsulates it all "Here in the Nordic nations we draw a line between the decent, hard-working countries of the north, and the easy-going, relaxed southern states." It appears the party will be in coalition talks with the other Finnish parties, the result of which is sure to throw a wrench in the Portuguese bailouts.

'Fracking' for natural gas also splits towns and families - (www.usatoday.com) Ron Hilliard came back from church one Sunday to find hundreds of plastic $5, $10, $20 and $100 bills hanging on his fence in Flower Mound, Texas — Ron Hilliard came back from church one Sunday to find hundreds of plastic $5, $10, $20 and $100 bills hanging on his fence in Flower Mound, Texas — another message from townsfolk angry at him for signing a lucrative natural gas drilling lease on his suburban Dallas property. Across the country, in Damascus, Pa., drilling advocate Marian Schweighofer awoke one morning to the word “LORAX” — from the Dr. Seuss book about environmental destruction — spray-painted on the road near her family’s 712-acre farm. Hilliard and Schweighofer are both living with the rancor erupting in communities nationwide over the volatile issue of producing gas by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Gas at $4 in nation's capital, 5 states; NY next - (finance.yahoo.com) Drivers in Washington, D.C., on Saturday joined motorists in five states who are paying more than $4 per gallon for gasoline. The average price for gas in New York could top $4 by early next week. Hawaii, Alaska, California, Illinois and Connecticut already have pump prices above that mark, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge. Hawaii has the highest price in the U.S. at $4.47 per gallon. The national average for gas has increased for 25 straight days, and is now $3.82 per gallon. Retail surveys suggest motorists are reacting to higher prices now by buying less fuel. Still, the government expects pump prices to keep climbing this summer as vacationers take to the highways.

World finance chiefs chastise U.S. on budget gap - (www.reuters.com) World finance leaders on Saturday chastised the United States for not doing enough to shrink its massive overspending and warned that budget strains in rich nations threaten the global recovery. Finance ministers in Washington for semi-annual talks took sharper aim than in previous years at the United States' $14 trillion debt. While most of the criticism came from emerging market economies, some advanced nations joined the chorus. Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager warned that if the United States and other advanced nations move too slowly it could undermine confidence in the global economy. "Insufficient budgetary consolidation may spark off further escalation of debt sustainability issues, with repercussions on confidence and the still fragile financial sector," de Jager told the International Monetary Fund's steering committee. "Debt dynamics in other advanced economies, including the United States, are of concern." The IMF this week said the U.S. budget deficit was on course to hit 10.8 percent of nation's economic output this year, tying with Ireland for the highest deficit-to-GDP ratio among advanced economies. It urged Washington to move quickly to put a credible plan in place to tighten its belt.

Price of Tomatoes Has a Lot to Do With These Thefts - (www.nytimes.com) The high price of produce, especially for tomatoes after the deep winter freezes, has attracted more than heightened attention from consumers. A ring of sophisticated vegetable bandits was watching, too. Late last month, a gang of thieves stole six tractor-trailer loads of tomatoes and a truck full of cucumbers from Florida growers. They also stole a truckload of frozen meat. The total value of the illegal haul: about $300,000. The thieves disappeared with the shipments just after the price of Florida tomatoes skyrocketed after freezes that badly damaged crops in Mexico. That suddenly made Florida tomatoes a tempting target, on a par with flat-screen TVs or designer jeans, but with a big difference: tomatoes are perishable. “I’ve never experienced people targeting produce loads before,” said Shaun Leiker, an assistant manager at Allen Lund, a trucking broker in Oviedo, Fla., that was hit three times by the thieves. “It’s a little different than selling TVs off the back of your truck.”

No-tax-hike pledge creates Republican rift, potential roadblock to deficit deal - (www.washingtonpost.com) Republicans are feuding over whether to abandon the party’s long-held opposition to higher taxes in pursuit of a deficit-cutting deal with Democrats. The rift in the Republican ranks has surfaced in a bitter back-and-forth between two heroes of the conservative movement: Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who has been working with a bipartisan group of senators on a compromise to reduce government borrowing, and Grover Norquist, author of the no-tax-increase pledge that has become a rite of passage for GOP candidates. At stake is a pillar of Republican orthodoxy that has for decades united every wing of the party in a quest to shrink government’s reach. As the battle over the federal deficit escalates in Washington, the two men are sparring over Coburn’s seemingly narrow proposal to eliminate a $5 billion annual tax break awarded to companies that blend ethanol into gasoline. But both sides say this cuts to the core of a quandary for the GOP: Will the cause of trimming deficits run aground on the conservative principle that the government must not increase the amount of money it takes in through taxes?

Moody’s Cuts Ireland Rating Two Levels, Outlook Negative - (www.bloomberg.com) Ireland’s credit rating was cut two levels by Moody’s Investors Service to the lowest investment grade as the government struggles to lower the budget deficit and restore economic growth. Moody’s reduced the rating to Baa3 from Baa1, leaving the country’s outlook on negative, according to an e-mailed statement today. That’s the same rating as Iceland, Tunisia,Romania and Brazil. Standard & Poor’s on April 1 cut Ireland’s rating one level to BBB+ with a stable outlook. Irish taxpayers may spend as much as 100 billion euros ($145 billion) trying to solve Europe’s worst banking crisis as the country draws funds from last year’s bailout. Ireland is trying to convince investors at home and abroad it has finally plugged the hole in its lenders after four failed attempts following the collapse of the country’s property boom in 2007.

Banks Near Deal With SEC - (online.wsj.com) U.S. securities regulators are in talks with several major Wall Street banks to settle fraud allegations related to mortgage-bond deals that helped unleash the financial crisis, according to people familiar with the matter. The expected settlements, some of which could be reached as soon as next week, collectively mark the biggest attempt by enforcement agencies to hold Wall Street accountable for its role in the subprime mortgage bust. The cases highlight the aggressive tactics banks used to sell these securities to investors who suffered big losses. They also show how the banks' desire to keep the $1 trillion mortgage securities business going helped fuel the housing bubble. The Securities and Exchange Commission is aiming to reach a series of settlements with individual firms over the sales of the investments, rather than a big industry-wide deal, according to people familiar with the matter. The settlements are expected to vary significantly among banks—but few, if any, are expected to surpass the $550 million penalty that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. paid last year to settle allegations that it misled investors in a mortgage-bond investment called Abacus 2007-AC1. That penalty was the largest ever paid by a Wall Street firm to settle SEC charges. Goldman didn't admit or deny the allegations.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Someone has to stop the Federal Reserve before it crushes Main Street - (www.marketwatch.com) Someone has to stop the Federal Reserve before it crushes what remains of America’s Main Street economy. In the last few weeks alone, it launched two more financial sector pumping operations which will harm the real economy, even as these actions juice Wall Street’s speculative humors. First, joining the central banking cartels’ market rigging operation in support of the yen, the Fed helped bail-out carry traders from a savage short-covering squeeze. Then, green lighting the big banks for another go-round of the dividend and share-buyback scam, it handsomely rewarded options traders who had been front-running this announcement for weeks. Indeed, this sort of action is so blatant that the Fed might as well just look for a financial vein in the vicinity of 200 West St., and proceed straight-away to mainline the trading desks located there. In any event, the yen intervention certainly had nothing to do with the evident distress of the Japanese people. What happened is that one of the potent engines of the global carry-trade — the massive use of the yen as a zero cost funding currency — backfired violently in response to the unexpected disasters in Japan.

Republicans begin to chip away at Fannie, Freddie. Good! - (www.reuters.com) Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have started to chip away at housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taking the first legislative steps to reduce their role in the $10.6 trillion U.S. residential mortgage market. The House Financial Services subcommittee responsible for overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac approved eight narrowly crafted bills late on Tuesday and early Wednesday targeting the two firms, including one that would sharply cut the pay of their executives. Republicans are pushing hard to curtail the two government-controlled firms as part of a broad effort to scale back the government's involvement in housing. Democrats are more sympathetic to a continued, but smaller, government role. The votes, largely but not entirely along party lines, marked the first concrete steps in what is expected to be a years-long process of winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Florida's shadow real-estate inventory ranks No. 1 in US- (www.miamiherald.com) Unlisted homes in limbo could threaten Florida’s fragile recovery. The forecast could be dim for the Sunshine State as a looming market of distressed and discounted homes threatens a struggling recovery. According to a new report from the National Association of Realtors, Florida’s “shadow inventory” ranks No. 1 in the nation with 441,461 homes statewide. California is in second place with 227,961 homes. Shadow homes are ones in limbo — bank repossessions, those with delinquent loans, and ones in foreclosure that are not yet listed for resale. The size of the shadow is grim news for Florida’s home values, which could take a dive as the properties are listed and start trading hands for cheap. Palm Beach County’s median home value has proven fragile in the past year, slipping under $200,000 in January before rebounding in February to $205,400. “That cloud just keeps hanging over us,” said Tim Becker, director of the University of Florida’s Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies, referring to the shadow inventory. “The question right now is: When will the homes come on the market and over what period of time?” Becker said Florida’s shadow inventory is so much larger than other states’ because of the rampant real-estate speculation that occurred during the boom, as well as the state’s judicial foreclosure system. Florida requires every foreclosure go through the courts, which have a 322,724-case backlog of foreclosures. “There are only so many cases you can do in a day, only so many you can process,” Becker said. Adding to the logjam is the robo-signing muddle and collapse of the Law Offices of David J. Stern, which handled tens of thousands of foreclosures in the state.

Could a Government Shutdown Hit Housing? - (blogs.wsj.com) If the federal government shuts down, the housing market could face a bit of a screwball just as the spring sales season gets underway. The Federal Housing Administration plays a key role providing low down payment mortgages to the housing market. Last year, it accounted for as many as half of all mortgages for home purchases, according to research firm Zelman & Associates. The FHA is particularly popular with first-time home buyers because it requires minimum down payments of just 3.5%. The New Deal-era agency doesn’t actually make mortgages. Instead, it insures lenders against the risk of a default for loans that meet its standards. But if the federal government shuts down, the FHA won’t be insuring any new loans. Banks will still be able to make FHA loans, but they’ll have to fund and hold onto those loans until the government re-opens for business.

Pelosi A "No" Vote On Budget Deal? - (www.businessinsider.com) It seems hard to imagine, but The Hill is reporting that a surprising number of "leadership" Democrats in the House will vote "no" this afternoon on the FY 2011 budget deal. More surprising, The Hill reports that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi might also vote against the enabling legislation. Here's the report: House Democratic leaders are prepared to buck President Obama with a ‘no’ vote on the 2011 spending deal he struck with Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). Two members of the House Democratic leadership team, Caucus Chairman John Larson (D-CT) and Vice Chairman Xavier Becerra (D-CA), told The Hill they would oppose the legislation, while Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD.) said he might vote ‘yes’ but has not committed to supporting the bill. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) has kept silent on her position, and senior Democrats said they have not been told how she plans to vote. “We’ll see,” is all Pelosi would tell The Hill when asked her position late (Wednesday).

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

25,000 out of 70,000 Illinois State Employees are on Workers' Comp- (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) It's not just the wage coverage while injured employees aren't working for months or even years, but the medical bills and often the settlement beyond that (all tax free, by the way). In fact, "even if the medical fee schedule were reduced by 30 percent, Illinois would still have the second highest rates in the nation, but our employers could save up to $500 million," acknowledges the governor's office. The startling statistics do not end there, unfortunately. State government is an employer, too, with approaching 70,000 full- and part-time workers. And from that pool there are currently 25,000 open workers' comp claims. That's a breathtaking number. It is impossible to believe all of those are legitimate. Apparently federal investigators have questions, too, as they've launched a criminal probe following reports by the Belleville News-Democrat of alleged abuses of the system at Menard Correctional Center in Chester, where more than half the staff - 389 people, most of them prison guards and including the warden - have been paid some $10 million for on-the-job injuries such as those occasioned by locking and unlocking cell doors. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Meanwhile, a quarter of the 32 arbitrators who decide injury claims for others have filed claims themselves, reported the paper.

The Fed Rescue Program Too Bizarre to Be True: Michael Lewis - (www.bloomberg.com) Last week the Federal Reserve bravely released 894 PDF files containing 29,346 pages that detailed its heroic actions during the financial crisis. These documents revealed how open-minded the Fed can be when it needs to be. Local governments in Belgium, Japanese fishing cooperatives, the Libyan government and many other unlikely parties received the Fed’s financial aid. Failing U.S. banks, such as Citigroup and Morgan Stanley (MS), were of course handed whatever they wanted, and permitted to post as collateral pretty much anything they could get their hands on: junk bonds, defaulted debt, volatile equities. To naive critics this came as just more evidence that the Fed had mistaken the wants of a handful of rich people for the needs of the wider society. Many Fed spokesmen have wisely declined to comment, many times. Upon seeing how incapable the public is of understanding its wisdom, the Fed judiciously elected to withhold a second, far longer document. This previously unexamined collection of 10,427 encrypted PDF files should no doubt offer not merely a record of financial heroism, but a snapshot of peerless financial leadership during a crisis.

$4-a-gallon gas fueling fears for recovery - (www.washingtonpost.com) Gasoline prices are soaring toward $4 a gallon, a threshold that some analysts say will damage the fragile economic recovery and crimp consumer spending just as families are planning their summer vacations. Higher prices saddle businesses with higher transportation costs, causing them to either swallow them or pass them along to already strapped customers. As gasoline costs go up, consumers are left with less money to spend elsewhere. And there is evidence that the hike at the pump is beginning to push drivers off the road. Gasoline prices, which are approaching record levels, “are going to have a very profound effect on the economy,” said Peter Morici, an economist at the University of Maryland. D.C. resident Amber Sutton, who drives 25 miles each way to her job in Woodbridge, said rising gasoline prices have caused her to cut back on restaurants and other entertainment. “I already was spending a ton on gas,” she said. “But now it’s absolutely ridiculous.”

US municipal bonds face tax reform threat - (www.ft.com) The $3,000bn US municipal bond market is facing a fresh threat: tax reform. After the heated fight over how to cut the US budget deficit almost resulted in the shutdown of the US government last week, the arguments over money are not likely to cool any time soon. Still on the agenda are numerous suggestions for eliminating tax benefits. US states, local governments and municipalities have been able to borrow cheaply for years, in part because most buyers do not have to pay tax on the interest paid on bonds. Removing this loophole would bring in extra revenues for the federal government – but would require a complete rethink of one of the biggest debt markets in the world. Without the tax break, the amount borrowers would need to pay for new bonds could be much higher because investors would ask a fundamental question: is it worth owning municipal debt if it does not offer a tax advantage? The debate comes at a time when buyers of municipal debt are already extremely jittery about credit risks. Strained public finances have raised concerns about mounting defaults in a bond market that has long been marketed as ultra-safe. Attempts to bring in international investors by creating new bonds that do not rely on tax perks have fizzled out. This means the individual American saver is still vital to the fate of the US municipal market.

Clinton's ‘Failed State’ Warning Threatens Libya as NATO Can't Stem Chaos - (www.bloomberg.com) U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s early warning thatLibya may become a failed state risks turning into reality as three weeks of Western military intervention have failed to stem the chaos that’s split the country in half. Clinton on March 2 said Libya may become a “giant Somalia.” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on April 11 raised the possibility of a Libyan “failed state.” Moussa Koussa, Muammar Qaddafi’s lieutenant who defected last month, warned also that day of a Somalia-like collapse. “It looks like a very untenable situation,” Geoff Porter, an analyst at North African Risk Consulting, said in an interview from New York. “Where we are heading is a de facto partition, between Tripolitania and Cyrenaica,” the historic names for western and eastern Libya.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Lenders prove too powerful to be prosecuted - (www.firsttuesdayjournal.com) Lenders are still getting away with highway robbery, according to Nobel Prize winning economist and New York Times Op/Ed columnist, Paul Krugman. Krugman eviscerates the banking industry and the wealthy class with a powerful reminder that although an economic recovery is under way, there has yet to be a final reckoning. More than a moralistic call for lender atonement, Krugman adroitly identifies the phenomenal role reversal that has taken place between the accused and their accusers. He reveals how the banking industry has managed to demonize those who seek to prosecute them for their abuses. In the past it was real estate brokers and appraisers; now it is others. Rather than cheering-on the attorneys general (AGs) as they pursue lenders for restitution via a recently proposed settlement, congressmen, the press and of course lenders themselves, are branding the settlement as “extortion,” and a “shakedown” that will threaten the economic recovery. Such rhetoric is brazenly employed against the AGs who have repeatedly exposed the gross improprieties of lenders.

Cocaine smugglers laundered billions through Wachovia bank - (news.yahoo.com)Somehow, the major banks in the United States have gone from serving as the main bulwarks of credit and entrepreneurial pluck to the moral equivalent of a James Bond villain. There were, for instance, the jaw-dropping mortgage frauds detailed by "60 Minutes" just last night. There was last week's report on a group of Citibank-affiliated debt collectors actually killing a customer in Indonesia in a dispute over a credit card bill. And there's the long-running but demoralizing story of the unjustified efforts of large banks to foreclose on active-duty soldiers. Now comes this: Wachovia Bank -- which merged with the West Coast banking giant Wells Fargo in 2009, in one of the many industry moves sparked by the 2008 mortgage meltdown -- seemingly looked the other way while some of the world's biggest drug lords funneled billions through the bank's holdings. As one federal prosecutor put it, the arrangement "gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations."

60 Minutes - The Next Housing Shock - (www.youtube.com) Synopsis: The Next Housing Shock: As more and more Americans face mortgage foreclosure, banks' crucial ownership documents for the properties are often unclear and are sometimes even bogus - a condition that's causing lawsuits and hampering an already weak housing market.

FHA loans decline while VA loan use increases - (www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com) The share of borrowers using government-insured FHA home loans fell to its lowest level in 27 months in February, based on an analysis of 20 large housing markets nationwide by DataQuick Information Systems of La Jolla. The trend likely reflects a combination of factors, including tighter lending criteria for the low-down-payment loans, says DataQuick in its report Monday. In February, 33.3 percent of the purchase mortgages used in those 20 metro areas were FHA-insured, down from 38.2 percent in February 2010. Last month's figure was the lowest since FHA loans made up 33.0 percent of the purchase loan market in November 2008. In Sacramento, the only Central Valley metro area included in DataQuick’s study, 4.7 percent of home loans in February were VA loans and 35.7 percent were FHA. In February 2010 in Sacramento, 4.3 percent of home loans were through the VA and 45.3 percent were FHA, says DataQuick. For the current housing cycle, FHA loans nationwide peaked at 41.1 percent of all home purchase loans in November 2009. Since then, FHA's share of purchase mortgages has eroded fairly steadily, says DataQuick.

Fed's Artificially Low Interest Rates Murder The Elderly - (online.wsj.com) Forrest Yeager, a 91-year-old resident of this seaside community, had been counting on his retirement savings to last until he died. The odds are moving against him. With short-term bank CDs paying less than 1%, the World War II veteran expects his remaining $45,000 stash to yield just a few hundred dollars this year. So, he's digging deeper into his principal to supplement his $1,500 monthly income from Social Security and a small pension. "It hurts," says Mr. Yeager, who estimates his bank savings will be depleted in about six years at his current rate of withdrawal. "I don't even want to think about it." Mr. Yeager is among the legion of retirees who find themselves on the wrong end of the Federal Reserve's epic attempt to rescue the economy with cheap money.